Bracelet
by
Disclaimer: These characters belong to MCA/Universal. The text is mine.
Warning: The content of my story contains a scene of humiliating discipline. In other words, a certain kind of punishment that never would've appeared on the XWP show. Please, if you're not into this stuff it will definitely offend you. Don't read on.
An Aside: My friends dared me to write this story˜mainly because I dislike kinky-punishment fantasies that crop up in movies and literature from time to time. They thought it would be a kind of therapy for my conservative sensibilities. It sort of makes you wonder about the company I keep :)
So far, I haven't gone over to the 'other' side. I'm still a square and prefer the schmaltzy side of life.
Remember you've been warned.
Comments? Opinions? Flames (hope not!)? Send to: brndy4me@aol.com
Gabrielle married. Married. Married. MARRIED!!!
Dressed in disguise she watched as her friend exchanged vows with a very handsome....what did he do for a living again? Oh yes, a weaver.
"Well, she'll always have nice things to wear."
Xena looked at the young man's face. He was beaming enough to light their way to next week˜something Xena often felt, yet was always lousy at expressing.
"A mere boy. He's barely..."
They kissed. The vows over, ohhh's and ahhh's filled the room. Gabrielle smiled into the embrace, though the flush about her ears was missing. Gabrielle always turned rosy when she kissed Xena, yet with this boy...
Xena backed away; she could bear no more of these happy trappings. Moving quickly through the crowd of happy guests, she headed for the other side of town. But not before turning around one last time.
Bridegroom and bride had emerged from the ceremony slowly making their way to some honeymoon hideaway. Well-wishers halted their progress as they waded in-between their many guests. Xena hated crowds; Gabrielle loved them and it was plain enough by her expression. Though she seemed very happy, Gabrielle appeared to be looking for someone. She wasn't being obvious about it, but it was there. Xena had stayed longer than intended so once again she set off for the edge of town.
Disappearing into a stable, Xena let her guard down. She fell into an uncontrollable weeping state that was becoming too loud, too ridiculous. Xena dashed further inside the barn then settled into a corner and dramatically laid herself across the straw. She managed to mute some of the louder sobs, yet some escaped no matter how hard she tried to stop them.
A barely audible footstep brought Xena to attention. In an instant she turned, sat up and drew her sword towards the offending intruder.
"I thought I saw you duck in here."
The tone was angry and more than familiar. Xena swallowed hard and used the back of her sleeve to wipe her eyes.
"I...I'm..." she stupidly blurted out then stopped.
Though clearly mad, Gabrielle was a vision in her wedding dress. Xena put her sword down trying to avoid the angry glare leveled her way.
"Always the feral beast," she stated, eyeing Xena's sword, "You're pathetic. What did I ever see in you?"
Her last statement wasn't really a question, since it came out with such venom. Xena sank under the weight of these words and said nothing. She'd set herself up for discovery, and now she had to pay the price of quietly enduring Gabrielle's wrath.
"Well, are you here to congratulate the blushing bride?"
Now the redness that had been absent before was there in full force. Gabrielle's face and ears were a comely shade of bright crimson, her eyes glowing fiendish emerald.
"No."
Xena stood up then sheathed her weapon; the motion made Gabrielle jump back defensively. Xena couldn't help feeling inwardly pleased at making her hop.
"What then, to humiliate me again? Is that it?"
Xena started to leave and felt a furious pull at her sleeve.
"DON'T YOU TURN YOUR BACK ON ME!" Gabrielle shrieked.
Xena wheeled around grabbing the offending hand in a tight grip. They stood like that for a few wordless seconds glaring at each other, one still angrier than the other. Xena, at last, let her former friend's hand go.
"I wish you every happiness," Xena whispered then turned to walk away. She paused, reached into her cloak, took out a tied up parcel and placed it on the ground. Xena quickly exited the stable.
Gabrielle watched her leave ignoring the thing Xena left; heavy-hearted with the old recurring ache. She warily followed Xena outside believing the obstinate woman would come back, beg for forgiveness and spirit her away on Argo's back. No, Xena made no move to fulfill Gabrielle's fanciful notion.
"I wouldn't forgive her anyway," Gabrielle muttered to herself. The past playing out in front of her as the minutes slowly ticked by.
**
Autumn's chill made itself known as Xena and Gabrielle strolled through a mass of dense forest green. Xena had been unusually quiet the whole day.
"Where were you all night, or aren't I allowed to ask?"
Gabrielle looked at Xena, whose brow was knitted into a frown. Something else was there too, but the girl couldn't put her finger on it.
"Out," Xena snapped.
"Oh fine. Well, I guess snarling is better than silence."
"If you don't like it, leave."
Gabrielle fumed. Xena used this threat once too often.
"I really hate it when you say that!"
Xena increased her stride to get away from the wordy tirade she was sure was coming. Gabrielle slowed her walk. She knew what town they were headed for and decided to let Xena put a physical distance between them.
"Maybe by the time I get there," Gabrielle thought to herself, "she'll have calmed down."
But this wasn't likely. Xena had been wrestling with a problem that didn't seem to have any other answer except...
"Drive her out for good. You must do it."
But by physical abuse? No, no. There had to be some other way out of this. Xena could never bring herself to beat her friend, her dearest, sweetest friend.
The problem began when Callisto found a bracelet that gave her power of teleportation to anywhere. And, as it happened, she popped in out of nowhere at night eager to break the news to Xena. The very evening Gabrielle had been questioning her about.
"Well, my sweet, aren't you glad to see me?"
Xena had already drawn her sword.
"What do you want?"
Callisto chuckled and slowly circled Xena as she spoke.
"What I always want Xena: to see your little playmate's heart crushed. Now I want you to do the crushing. You don't want me to do it, do you?"
Xena slashed violently at Callisto's head˜but her sword cut through air. Callisto reappeared behind Xena and tapped her on the shoulder. Once again Xena's sword found nothing but air as she whirled about to slice her enemy in half.
"I have only to hint at a command and my little dainty here does my bidding."
Callisto shimmied her wrist teasingly to show off the remarkable bracelet she wore. Xena was poised to strike.
"Now, now Xena. You really must do something about that ugly temper of yours. It's so...unattractive."
Xena lowered her weapon, but didn't sheath it.
"Well, I'm waiting, what is it?"
"That's what I adore about you sweetheart, right to the point. It's simple: I want you to spank that brat of a sidekick of yours in the middle of a town. Bare-assed!"
"You're out of your mind!" Xena shot back.
"If you do a decent job I'll never bother your little friend again," She moved in close to Xena breathing the words into her face, "If you don't whack that pert fanny of hers, I'll snap myself right inside her body. She'll explode into iddy," she ran a finger down Xena's cheek, "bitty pieces before you could lift a finger to help."
Callisto flicked her finger under Xena's chin to emphasize her pun and chuckled merrily. Xena only glared at her unable to act.
"You've got till tomorrow evening. And remember, I'll be watching your every move till then, so don't try to fool me!"
She disappeared. No puff of smoke, just a slight rustle of the grass she'd just been standing in.
This was the load Xena had been carrying around. Would Callisto keep her bargain? There didn't seem to be a way to stop that woman. As the day wore on, it looked like Xena would have no other choice than to crush her friend.
***
"I can't do it..."
"Excuse me? Did you want something else?" the innkeeper asked sheepishly.
Xena took another big swig of ale and wiped her mouth. Tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Yeah," Xena barked, "line up 4 more of these, right here."
The innkeeper filled four more beakers and lined them up as ordered. Xena finished the rest of what she had then gulped down another helping. A warm feeling crept through her body. The ale was taking effect, but not quite enough to get her into a fiery mood. She grabbed up a third beaker then a fourth and swallowed both down too.
"If it weren't for that green-eyed twit I wouldn't be in this mess," Xena mumbled.
"I looked for you all over town."
Xena spun around so awkwardly she spilled the contents of her last drink. Gabrielle gazed at Xena; a disgusted expression crinkled her face.
"I didn't expect to find you soused."
Right on cue Xena hiccupped.
"So what. I can do anything I want."
Xena turned her back on Gabrielle and signaled the bartender to fill her empty mug. She hoisted her fifth beaker.
"I think you've had enough to drink."
Gabrielle tried to gently take the mug from Xena's hand.
"Get away from me damn you!"
"Please Xena, you know how you get..."
"THAT'S IT!"
Xena threw her beaker at the opposite wall then grabbed a handful of Gabrielle's hair.
"WAIT! OWWCH! XENA WAIT!"
She pulled Gabrielle by her hair towards the door and stormed outside. A few townsfolk overheard the ruckus at the inn and had gathered into a crowd. Xena shouted to no one in particular over Gabrielle's bellowing.
"WHERE'S THE CENTER OF THIS %!&$@# TOWN?"
A couple of people pointed to an unknown location down the road.
"TAKE ME THERE!"
A fair sized group led the way with Xena practically dragging her screaming friend along.
"YOU'RE HURTING ME...STOP!"
"SHUT UP!"
Xena jerked the wad of hair in her fist and Gabrielle tried not to say anything more; she just whimpered in painful intervals.
The middle of town sported two livery stables, another inn and a bug-filled horse trough. The latter is where Xena chose to carry out the unspeakable act. Her alcohol sodden brain chugged furiously onward. She might've found a way through Callisto's mad command, but Xena got drunk. And when she got drunk her evil side ran amuck.
The ugly march came to an abrupt halt. Xena plopped down sloppily on the edge of the stone watering trough. She started to pull Gabrielle towards her when the full tilt resistance broke out. Gabrielle fought like a demon once she realized what was going to happen. She managed to break away from her captor leaving some torn bits of golden mane in Xena's hand. Gabrielle dashed into a crowd of a boisterous mob. As bad luck would have it they wanted to see this thing through. It took six people to restrain her. Having done so, a bunch of them hauled Gabrielle back to her tormentor.
Xena had been waiting somewhat dimly at the trough. All that activity hastened the intoxicating effect and now she was in a dangerously bestial fog.
"What do you want we should do wit her?"
The smaller of the little coterie of toughs stepped forward. He was smiling. Xena stood up unsteadily and glared at him.
"I'll take over from here."
Gabrielle lay at her feet; tied but not gagged. Tear tracks stained her cheeks and more tears started to flow down.
"You're not yourself...please let me go," she sobbed.
Xena laughed through a tight throat. She pondered this for a moment not understanding why she herself wanted to sob. Xena brushed the minor thought immediately away. She had something very important to attend to and nothing was going to stop her. Exactly why this was so important wasn't really clear to her. No matter.
Xena sat down on the trough again, this time nearly tumbling into the filthy water. She grasped the makeshift bindings around Gabrielle and lifted her up. Xena then pulled, what was quickly becoming a former friend, face down across her lap. The townspeople went wild when they figured out the show would be a public walloping.
"Please Xena...don't..."
Gabrielle whimpered briefly then gave up on her pleading. The crowd seemed to hold their breath.
Xena clamped a hand around Gabrielle's tied wrists. She then swung back her free hand and sent it crashing down with all her might upon the upturned bottom. Gabrielle winced inaudibly from the terrible shock of pain and gritted her teeth. She was determined not to cry out or beg for mercy˜never again. Not from her punisher˜the woman she thought she loved and loved her too.
Another whack soon followed before Gabrielle could recover from the last one. She let out a cough, but that was all. The overexcited crowd hoorayed their approval. One lone woman in the pent up horde forced her way out and cautiously approached Xena.
"Miss, do stop the madness. Whatever your trouble is, the poor thing is just a child˜"
Callisto came out from where she had been hiding and ran up to Xena pushing the well-meaning town member out of the way.
"Bare-assed, remember sweet pea?" Callisto cooed breathlessly in Xena's ear.
Xena continued the whipping, tears starting to flow in a steady stream. Gabrielle jumped with each smack, but bore the pain bravely, without uttering a sound.
"Did you hear me drunken pig? I said you're to sp˜"
Quick as a flash, Xena grabbed Callisto's bracelet off her wrist and jammed it over her own. She bucked Gabrielle off her lap and yanked Callisto by the newly naked wrist into Gabrielle's vacated position. She screamed like a wild animal in a trap.
"LET ME GO! I'LL KILL YOU!"
"You're about to get the beating of your life, sweet pea" Xena spat down at Callisto's struggling form.
"YOU KILLED MY MOTHER, YOU MIGHT AS WELL FIT THIS IN TOO," Callisto wailed.
"Oh please, don't trot out the 'mother' thing again. It won't help you now," Xena made eye contact with the 'well-meaning' woman outside the jam of people, "you, untie the girl," the woman looked around then pointed at herself, "That's right, you. Untie the girl," Xena repeated.
She immediately rushed over and freed Gabrielle who got to her feet and ran off. Xena wrapped a long leg around Callisto's kicking thighs and tore off her prey's undergarment. Callisto's bare squirming backside lay exposed for all to gawk at. Some of the fine townsfolk licked their lips at the sight, hands shakily making their way to spontaneously throbbing crotches.
Xena held her down in an iron grip and began the 'bare-assed' spanking that Callisto wanted Gabrielle to receive.
"OOOOOHHHHCCH! STOP!"
She continued swatting Callisto's bottom with a fury that was unmatched by any satisfaction she ever experienced.
"OOOWWWW! NO MORE! EEEEK!"
Xena laughed triumphantly with every vigorous whack to her target's bouncing ruby-red fanny.
"NO XEEENNNAAAAAIIIIIIIIII...!!"
The crowd roared its enthusiasm for the spectacle that would never grace their dull lives again.
And what of Gabrielle while this was taking place? The 'well meaning' woman followed after Gabrielle discovering the young woman tearfully gathering things she dropped at the inn. The woman drew near and gently placed a hand on Gabrielle's.
"My dear," she stated slowly, "I can't begin to apologize for the town's awful ways. They should've tried to help."
Gabrielle recognized her kindly voice and looked up to find an equally kind face.
"You don't have to..."
She gazed at the hand lightly squeezing hers and suddenly cried out in anguish. The woman took Gabrielle into her arms and let the girl shed her misery there.
*SPLASSSSH!*
"That ought to cool off your butt."
Callisto sputtered and coughed-up the foul water shouting oaths as Xena marched away.
****
"You're in an awful hurry," Xena said casually.
Gabrielle stopped walking and glared up at the person addressing her.
"I want to get away from you."
Her flat-toned delivery left no doubt of what she was feeling. Xena wasn't quite sure of how to respond to the icy welcome. Gabrielle walked on not waiting for an answer.
"Callisto threatened to kill you. She had a bracelet that gave her special powers," Xena raised her voice to a shout to cover the swift distance Gabrielle was putting between them, "I didn't know what to do..."
Gabrielle spoke in a tear-choked voice without turning around.
"...So you decided to get drunk and shame me. I never want to see you again."
She tramped faster down the road; Xena had to sprint after her.
"I suppose that was my cue to turn into a penitent and tearfully beg your forgiveness!"
Xena dropped the pack she was carrying and spun Gabrielle around to face her.
"I have nothing to reproach myself for! If you knew all the facts you'd be thanking me for saving your miserable, ungrateful little life!"
Gabrielle's face burned with rage. She threw Xena's hands off and stepped back as if her once good friend was dirt.
"Oh but I am grateful Xena! How's this?"
Gabrielle got down on her knees and clasped her hands toward Xena.
"Thank you for warning me about Callisto's threat. Thank you for letting me in on the sober non-plan you mapped out for my welfare. And most of all," Hot tears ran down her enraged cheeks, "I want to thank you for treating me to a humiliation so unbearable that I'll never forget it˜as long as I live."
Gabrielle covered her eyes and fell into uncontrollable weeping. Xena looked on with growing alarm. She had lost her friend, just as Callisto wanted. The certainty of this snaked its way into the still impaired regions of her brain.
"I had to make it convincing...Callisto would've killed you otherwise."
Xena kneeled down next to Gabrielle and put her arms around her. For a few moments Gabrielle leaned against Xena crying her heart out, like she used to do, then suddenly pushed away from the embrace.
"No...don't touch me!"
Shocked, Xena stood up.
"Y-you don't understand..."
Gabrielle seethed with fury.
"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! I HATE YOU! I WANT YOU OUT OF MY LIFE!"
Xena backed away.
"All right then, I'll do as you wish. Goodbye, my heart."
Xena walked back to where she dropped her bundle and took the right fork in the road. She could hear Gabrielle's racking sobs a good distance from where she left her˜sitting in the sandy pathway crushed and betrayed.
*****
"Gabrielle? Gabrielle!"
Gabrielle came back to her senses. She was about to answer her husband's call but spotted the crudely wrapped package of Xena's lying on the ground nearby. Gabrielle gave it a push with the toe of her shoe.
"Everything she ties up looks like a bedroll, and a sloppy one too," Gabrielle said under her breath.
She knelt down and picked up the parcel looking it over before pulling the leather thongs off. Gabrielle unwrapped the plain cloth to find˜
"A bracelet?"
She turned it around in her hands then placed it on her wrist.
"It's so beautiful."
"GABRIELLE!"
Her husband's call was more insistent. Gabrielle huffed a little, then sighed.
"Just think," she said to herself, "he's yours forever."
She disregarded his shouts for her and walked a ways up the path Xena had taken. Gabrielle stared at her gift.
"I wish˜"
Gabrielle disappeared.
"˜I could...have...thanked...Xena...for...?"
She inexplicably found herself standing next to Xena who had made very good time traveling by foot through the countryside. Xena stopped short and peered down at Gabrielle completely taken aback.
"You're welcome," Xena answered somewhat uneasily.
Gabrielle gulped trying to keep her composure.
"This is that bracelet," she stated in a 'and now the dawn' tone then flipped her wrist to look at the thing more closely.
"Um...Yes," was all Xena could think of saying.
Gabrielle gazed up at Xena who seemed really uncomfortable.
"You're eyes are still red."
Xena quickly looked away feeling quite mortified.
"So's your nose," Gabrielle walked around Xena to keep her face in view and continued her observations, "You've been crying a lot, haven't you?"
Xena turned away again, this time allowing her tears to fall freely.
"I haven't really stopped. Not since..." Xena gasped back a tremendous sob, "You don't need to hear all this. You've thanked me for the gift, let's just leave it at that."
Gabrielle took Xena's hand.
"As let down as I still feel, your tears always get to me."
Xena frowned angrily at Gabrielle, tears falling unchecked.
"No, it's not pity," Gabrielle calmly explained, "It's because you cry so rarely. When you do it's for something that has really hurt you."
Gabrielle reached up and gently brushed away a thin stream of tears off Xena's chin.
"I'm so sorry," Xena stammered out, "I have a lot to reproach myself for; I'm a big bumbling boob. I didn't know how to tell you."
"Well, I already knew you were a boob," Gabrielle replied a bit too sarcastically.
Xena took her hand from Gabrielle's grasp, wiped her eyes and sniffled.
"I guess I deserved that," she answered staring at the ground dejectedly, "Could you...could you ever...forgive me?"
Gabrielle pulled Xena down, smoothed a few tears away and placed a kiss on her damp cheek. Gabrielle's ears were rosy.
"Oh, I don't know," Gabrielle offered with a little grin, "Let's walk a while and talk about it."
Gabrielle grasped Xena by the hand as they strolled slowly up the gritty road.
The End.